Beatles Music: Songs of the Co
Beatles Music: Songs of the Counterculture The 1960's are thought of by many to be the most eventful and changing decade in the history of America. In this time period there was much excitement as well as turmoil in America caused by many factors, including the charismatic leadership of John F. Kennedy, black leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. protesting for civil rights and Malcolm X preaching black superiority and violence, Indians protesting, women petitioning for equal treatment, religion being taken out of public schools, the abortion issue burning, people protesting war, and many other events. The country was changing and doing so rapidly as a growing counterculture was rising among the largest group of adolescents America had ever seen. In this decade the music of "The Beatles" fueled and enhanced the fast-growing counterculture and came at a perfect time, when America needed them most. When Kennedy was assassinated after the air of excitement he had caused, the country was shocked and somewhat depressed as rumors of war added to this sad time in America. The country needed an emotional lift and weeks later the Beatles showed up. They were upbeat, exciting, longhaired a
I would have a Woodbine (a cheap unfiltered British cigarette) and someone would speak and I would go into a dream. " All these songs topped the charts, not to mention other countercultural songs like "Tomorrow Never Knows" (Lennon's attempt to capture the LSD experience in sounds and words), "Piggies" (making fun of the middle classes), and "Happiness is Warm Gun" (enough said). The songs the Beatles wrote not only fit in with the growing counterculture, but helped ignite it somewhat. " In the Beatles song "A Day In The Life", McCartney said he was merely reflecting on his youth, stating: I was just remembering what it was like to to run up the road to catch a bus to school, having a smoke and then going to class. This was surprisingly false as the idea was actually from a picture his son had drawn for him years before. Wilfred Mellers, a Professor of Music at the University of York wrote: ". Although Lennon stated the title was not about drugs, he left little doubt that he wrote the song without the aid of a few drugs. The songs and actions of the Beatles changed the world and specifically fueled the counterculture of the 1960's, effecting history forever. Smoking marijuana was a huge part of the sixties counterculture. They made exciting music about marijuana, LSD, and surrealism and by the mid-sixties became a voice for the rebelling teens of that time period. " The Beatles were in the right place at the right time and took control of the hearts and the minds of people in a way that no one else would ever again.
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